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Thomas Dolby Wins Festival Honors With First Film, Plots Tour

Thirty years passed between Thomas Dolby directing a video for his hit "She Blinded Me With Science" and his first proper film, but it has resulted in two awards at the Los Angeles DIY Film Festival. His next step is to take it on the road.

Dolby will receive the DIY festival's award for best director and best documentary short for his 30-minute film "The Invisible Lighthouse" at the award ceremony at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel on March 8. Dolby will perform the score to "The Invisible Lighthouse" while the film is screened at the event.

Dolby plans to embark on a theater tour of the U.S. this year for live performances of "The Invisible Lighthouse," which he wrote and shot over the course of a year, learning basic CGI and green screen compositing techniques.

The film charts the imminent closure of an historic lighthouse near his home on coast of Suffolk. The island where it is located is closed to the public due to the presence of unexploded bombs, which meant Dolby executed several clandestine raids on the island with cameras rolling.

"Thomas Dolby's first effort as a director embodies everything that the DIY Film Fest aspires to -- it pushes the envelope of creativity using tools available to everyone," DIY Film Festival programming director Richard Martini said. "Our founding motto is from avant-garde filmmaker Jean Cocteau: 'When the cost of filmmaking is as much as a pencil and a piece of paper, then you'll find true art.' Dolby's film is a perfect example of that belief."